Mantovani’s Christmas Carols is one of the select Christmas albums (or albums, period) that had two bites of the bestsellling apple in two different incarnations. In its original mono version released in 1953, the album charted in two different years; then, with the advent of stereo technology, Mantovani re-recorded it in stereo in 1958, and THAT version of the album went on to chart four more times! Yet, that later stereo version (and when you think about it, how can you listen to the sweeping sound of Mantovani in anything but stereo?) has only briefly been available on CD (used copies sell for enough dough to keep Santa’s sleigh in gold-plated runners), and the mono version has only been on CD overseas in an inferior-sounding version. So, we are really restoring a perennial holiday favorite here; liner notes by Kim Cooper and vintage photos accompany. Merry Christmas from Real Gone Music!